State of Elections Welcomes First Editor in Chief
January 20, 2010
State of Elections and the Election Law Society of William & Mary are thrilled to announce it’s first Editor-in-Chief, Anthony Balady. A first year law student born and raised in New Jersey, Anthony has a degree in political science with a minor in writing and rhetoric from James Madison University. While we have a team of great editors on our blog, Anthony has emerged as a leader who will roll up his sleeves and leaves draft blog posts bleeding with red ink.
Reaction to this historic move for our blog was widely positive. When reached for comment, President Obama said it was “the best news we’ve had all week.”
Aware of Mr. Balady’s brown belt in Tae Kwon Do, Senator-elect Brown (R-MA) issued a statement nominating Anthony for Cosmo’s 2010 “America’s Sexiest Man.” It’s worth noting that when Cosmo comes calling, both men will have won the award while in law school, but only one will have had the privilege of leading the best student-run election law blog in the country.
For our readers wondering what type of political background Anthony has, we asked him a few basic questions. His first political memory? Clinton’s Lewinsky scandal. The first campaign that got him into politics? McCain in 2000: “That was the first time I realized that politics wasn’t just an entertaining sideshow, it had a real impact on real people,” the new chief said. Though he was quick to point out that McCain 2008 didn’t inspire the same feelings. In 2008, Anthony was pulling for Stephen Colbert. Seems like all of his candidates run into trouble in South Carolina.
Please join our blog family and the national, bi-partisan enthusiasm and welcome Anthony with an email at editor@stateofelections.com.
Online Voter Registration: A Small Step in the Right Direction
January 18, 2010
Lawmakers in the Michigan House recently passed HB 4539 and 4540, which together lay out the principles to allow for the electronic submission of voter registration applications. The change would allow for citizens with access to the Internet to register online by filling out a form similar to the paper form, and signing 
electronically. The form is then automatically printed at the local clerk’s office. Arizona was the first to implement online voter registration in 2003, followed by Washington in 2008, with six other states following last year. Other states have proposed similar legislation, and online registration continues to grow in popularity. In Arizona, 25% of all new voter registrations took place online in its first year and within a few years that number reached 70%. Michigan is expected to see similar numbers. The bills are currently headed to the Senate for further review.
This new legislation has several clear aims. The costs associated with online registrations are significantly lower than paper forms. Arizona spends nearly 83 cents processing each paper voter registration form while their online voter registrations may be completed with a cost of only 3 cents. Postage for delivery and receipt is not necessary with online registration because the form is immediately and automatically printed off at the clerk’s office after the registrant submits online. The registrant then has the option to print off a copy on their printer for personal records. This process would also cut down the amount of information that needs to be manually entered from paper forms, which would help prevent errors. Michigan in particular experienced difficulties with third-party form falsification last fall with groups like ACORN. Michigan hopes to eliminate such risks by taking the registration forms out of those group’s hands and giving voters this simple and streamlined way of registering.
Weekly Wrap Up
January 15, 2010
Every week, State of Elections brings you the latest news in state election law.
– Implementation of the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act has been delayed until 2012. The Act, which would require paper ballots in all Tennessee elections, has been highly controversial and strongly opposed by Republicans in the legislature. Lt. Gov Ron Ramsey even declared that delaying the bill was his No. 1 priority. Bernie Ellis, a leading proponent of the Act, posted this editorial on State of Elections in December. For more background, check out this article by Drew Staniewski.
– A federal judge in Arizona appears ready to dramatically change that state’s system of funding elections. Under Arizona’s Clean Elections system, certain candidates receive government funding for their campaigns. The system is designed to allow less well-funded candidates to compete with more affluent opponents. Judge Roslyn Silver, however, has written a draft order that would strike down these matching funds as unconstitutional.
– Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna and Secretary of State Sam Reed have announced that they will appeal the 9th Circuit Court’s decision in Farrakhan v. Gregoire. The decision restored the voting rights of felons in Washington. For more of State of Election’s coverage of the debate over felon voting rights, go here and here.
Voter Privacy and the Know Campaign
January 13, 2010
I get tons of political mail. Most of it I don’t read – after all, it contains little useful information. But if someone mailed me this, it would surely catch my eye:
“Below is a partial list of your recent voting history — public information obtained from the Virginia State Board of Elections…We have sent you this information as a public service because we believe that democracy only works when you vote.”
What if this mailing also contained information about my neighbor’s voting history in order for me to encourage/shame him into voting in the upcoming election?
This is exactly what the Know Campaign in Virginia sought to do this election cycle before legal action stopped them in their tracks. To read more about that, check out the Washington Post’s story here. The Know Campaign’s press release that started all of the excitement is here. (more…)
Ye Olde Election Law: The Bizarre History of Election Law
January 11, 2010
Election law has certainly earned its eccentric reputation. From zombie voters to hanging chads, the strange history of modern election law has become ingrained in the public consciousness. But, as odd as the last decade has been, the previous centuries of election law have been even more bizarre. So, in this series of articles, State of Elections will take a closer look at some of the stranger moments in election law.
One such moment happened in California’s Siskiyou County. In 1895, Clarence Smith was elected school superintendent of that county by a single vote. His opponent, George Tebbe, contested the result. When the ballots were recounted, the court found three additional votes for Tebbe, and declared Tebbe the new winner by two votes. However, until the ballots could be counted in open court, they had been stored under the desk in the county clerk’s office. This sounds all well and good, except that Tebbe was deputy clerk at that office, and worked in the same room where the ballots were stored. Imagine Tebbe, sitting just a few short feet from the ballots, the ballots that would decide his political future. Even if there was no actual vote tampering, surely even the appearance of impropriety would warrant a stern rebuke from the court. Of course, no such rebuke was forthcoming. Instead, the court praised the “prudence of the clerk and the fair dealing of all concerned”, and required that Smith prove that ballot tampering took place before taking any action.
Weekly Wrap Up
January 8, 2010
Every week, State of Elections brings you the latest news in state election law.
– Winter break at William and Mary is over, and State of Elections is excited to return to a full time posting schedule. New articles will be posted every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, beginning on January 11th.
– Senator Chris Dodd has announced he will not seek reelection in 2010. During his time in the Senate, Dodd proposed some sweeping changes to voter registration laws. Take a look at S. 17, Dodd’s proposed “Voting Opportunity and Technology Enhancement Rights Act of 2005”. If it had been passed, S. 17 would have required states to allow voters to register on election day, and also would have enabled voters to register electronically via the Internet.
– The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the disenfranchisement of felons violates the federal Voting Rights Act. According to the court, the criminal justice system is so “infected” with racism that limiting the right of felons to vote is contrary to the Act’s prohibition against the denial of voting rights on account of race. The court’s opinion can be read in full here.
– The Rhode Island Senate and House has enacted legislation allowing 16 and 17 year olds to “pre-register” to vote. Those that pre-register will be automatically added to the voter rolls will they turn 18. The bill had been previously vetoed by Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri, but the veto was overridden by the legislature. For more information on pre-registration, see FairVote.org’s fact sheet.
Weekly Wrap Up
December 30, 2009
Every week, State of Elections brings you the latest news in state election law.
– The U.S. Census bureau has released its population estimates, and if their estimates are correct, 8 states stand to gain Congressional seats in 2010, and 10 states will lose seats.
– An editorial in the St. Petersburg Times accuses Florida’s “No Match, No Vote” law of disenfranchising thousands of minority voters during the 2008 presidential election. The law denies voter registration to any applicant whose name on the registration form does not match the Social Security or Florida driver’s license databases.
– The Supreme Court has held its last session of 2009, and still has not released its decision in Citizen United v. Federal Election Commission. The Court was expected to overrule existing precedents that allowed the government to limit the amount corporations could spend on campaigns. However, the long delay has fueled speculation that the Court’s decision may not be as clear cut as expected. For a review of the issues involved in Citizen United, see this transcript of oral arguments and this analysis of the possible implications of the case.
Weekly Wrap Up
December 18, 2009
Every Friday, State of Elections brings you the latest news in state election law.
– The recount in Virginia’s 21st district is over, and Ron Villanueva has been declared the winner by only 16 votes.
– Wisconsin held a voter education summit on Tuesday. Topics discussed include felon voting rights, photo id requirements at the polls, and Wisconsin’s same day registration law.
– Also in Wisconsin, two convicted felons are facing felony election fraud charges for voting in the November 2008 election. If convicted, they could be given up to three years and six months in prison.
– California is also debating the merits of a photo id requirement. State Senator George Runner has proposed an initiative that would require voters to show a driver’s license or other government issued ID before being given a ballot. The initiative has already come under fire from some Latino organizations, who fear the initiative could be used to discriminate against minority voters.
Op Ed: Take Jim Crow Out of the Virginia Constitution: Restore Voting Rights for All
December 16, 2009
After the 15th Amendment was passed, giving blacks the constitutional right to vote, Southern states enacted Jim Crow laws, designed to keep blacks from actually voting. These laws included disingenuous literacy tests and poll taxes, which served as illegal but thankfully temporary impediments for black voters. One of the few ways that states found they could legally keep at least some blacks from voting, however, was to enact felon disenfranchisement laws. These laws say that after a felon has served his time in prison, he still cannot vote. Although African-Americans represent only about 12.5% of America’s population, they make up about 48.5% of its prison population. So, felon disenfranchisement laws, which are at best arguably constitutional, have proved an effective method of suppressing the black vote.
Virginia is one of only two states in the U.S. that permanently bars ex-felons from voting, even after they have paid their debt to society (the other is Kentucky). In Virginia alone, there are more than 377,000 disenfranchised felons. Of these, more than 208,000 are African-American.This is an abomination. Virginia’s laws must be changed. (more…)
Weekly Wrap Up
December 11, 2009
Every Friday, State of Elections brings you the latest news in state election law.
– Two citizen initiatives in Florida, designed to limit gerrymandering, have faced opposition from the Florida legislature. Opponents of the initiatives claim that they reduce election opportunities for minorities.
– In Illinois, a lawsuit has been filed over an Illinois law that requires the county to use vote-counting machines that make an audible beep if a voter attempts to cast a vote that is blank for some offices.
– The Governor’s Commission on Strengthening Utah’s Democracy has issued a new report recommending “automatic and portable” voter registration in that state.
– Enjoyed last week’s post on felon disenfranchisement? Want to know some of the historical roots and reasoning behind the policy? Then check out Professor Pippa Holloway’s article “‘A Chicken-Stealer Shall Lose His Vote’ – Disfranchisement for Larceny in the South, 1874-1890”